Martin Kenny (Sligo-Leitrim, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

This budget has been a major disappointment for the vast majority of people who are struggling and are working hard to pay their mortgage or rent. They may face an occasional crisis in life, whether it is a car or washing machine breaking down, but there is nothing in the budget for them. The difficulty is there is no effort to recognise that a large section of people simply cannot survive in the system, as it stands.

I will focus mainly on my portfolio of justice. There was an exchange today in the Chamber about people extorting money by intimidating people working on building sites in Dublin. Deputy Ó Snodaigh wrote to Ministers informing them of it but nothing was done. Apart from the clear and obvious problem, it struck me that a Fine Gael Government that prides itself on being tough on crime did nothing when it was told about it. Now we have a scandal. I am sure the Minister of State knows that very many people who are victims of crime do not go to the Garda because they do not trust the Garda to solve those problems. Why did the contractor in this case not go to the Garda and why did senior officials in Dublin City Council consider it appropriate to advise the contractor to co-operate with the criminal rather than go to the Garda and get it sorted out? People clearly believe the Garda is not up for the job. It is the experience of very many people the length and breadth of the country, including in my constituency.

Walking on the streets of Dublin any night of a weekend after midnight, one might search high and low without finding a garda. They are not walking the streets or protecting people. When people come out of pubs and try to get a taxi home, they are afraid of their lives if they have to hang around for very long. I spoke to a woman the other day who told me she got off a bus in the north inner city one evening last week at approximately 7.30 p.m. and a car was doing doughnuts. That was near Ballybough, where around the corner Fitzgibbon Street Garda station has been closed, with a hoarding around it, for the past four years. Leinster House is 300 years old and there was a commitment to have it renovated; it was done in less time than was originally envisaged because of that commitment. However, the former Taoiseach, Deputy Enda Kenny, went to the north inner city and promised to do something, but what happened? Fitzgibbon Street Garda station is still closed with the hoarding around it because there was no commitment to refurbish it. It is the reality for many people around the country.

It is a similar position in my constituency. There are small rural towns with small gangs of people involved in the drug trade are attacking their neighbours and intimidating them. The Garda simply is not up for the job. I have seen this myself and spoken to people about it. They found that when they went to the Garda, there was sympathy and the Garda members took a note before they were sent away. No other effort was made because the Garda does not have the required resources unless there is a crisis. An armed response unit has recently been placed in Cavan and now there are three of them in the Border region, which is welcome. They are meant to respond to a crisis. The problem is the resources are not there to avoid that crisis developing in the first place. It is the major factor in discussing justice and so many other issues in the budget. The resources have not been put in place to deal with problems.

The Government has told us this is about making the right choice. As the Minister for Finance, Deputy Donohoe, has said, he only has so much money. The problem is the Government is prepared to make choices to benefit the people at the very top.

We still have tax breaks for executives from abroad living in Dublin. We still have tax breaks for some people at some of the major international corporations here. We still have a major tax breaks for the banks. AIB and Bank of Ireland are making more than €1 billion per year but are paying no tax. The Minister of State should tell publicans in rural Ireland that they can pay no tax because they have made no money in recent years. That is the excuse the banks make. Would that wash? Bloody sure it would not wash, but this Government allowed it to happen for the banks. These same banks have absolutely persecuted people throughout the country. They are driving people to the road in many cases and evicting them, yet we are doing this.

Some weeks ago, I picked up a book I read many years ago called The Republic, which was written by Plato 2,000 years ago. It states that three things are vital for a state to survive, namely, an adequate justice system, an adequate health system and an adequate education system. If we think of it, all the other things we have are subsidiaries of those three things, yet we are not dealing with those central issues in our society in this day and age. It is a scandal that this Government continues to hide behind numbers by saying Brexit is coming or that it only has so much money. There is every excuse but there is no excuse for the unfortunate people who feel afraid in their homes because of the situation in this city and throughout rural Ireland.

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